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Racewalker Gurmeet Singh of Jharkhand was the man to corner all attention, with a mark better than the National record in the 20km event, as the first leg of the Indian Grand Prix meet was gone through at the NIS grounds here on Tuesday.
The walk was not part of the Grand Prix programme. It was in some doubt even days before the meet. Though Gurmeet clocked 1:20:35 for a mammoth improvement on Babubhai Panucha's National record of 1:23:06, achieved at the Berlin World championships in 2009, there was no certainty this afternoon that his record would be ratified.
Dope-testing, mandatory for approval of all National records, was not in place early Tuesday morning when the walkers finished the course at the NIS which comprised 20 rounds around a one-kilometre loop. It could not be ascertained if he was tested hours later.
Though the timing is within the qualification marks for World Championships and the London Olympic Games, there would be no luck for Gurmeet since results achieved at pre-designated meets approved by the international federation alone will count towards qualification.
Winner of the National Games title, in the 20,000m event, at Ranchi (1:23:26.0), Gurmeet had returned a time of 1:23:05.84 for a National record in the 20,000m walk at the Railway championships in Chennai earlier this year. He had come seventh (1:25:43) at the Asian championships in Nomi City in Japan last March.
Many of the top-ranked athletes stayed away from the season opener for some reason or the other, not altogether a rare phenomenon in Indian athletics.
Barring Mayookha Johny, who posted her second best career mark of 13.65m in a mediocre and thin field in women's triple jump, no other athlete came close to standards expected at this level. Mayookha (ONGC) was just three centimeters shy of her National record, registered at the same venue last year.
Shamsher Pratap Singh continued his good run from the Punjab Games by winning the men's long jump title with a 7.77m effort. Maha Singh (7.46m) was second.
Several events were conducted as time trials and an idea about the miserable performance levels could be gauged from the timings returned by top sprinters Shameer Mon (10.87s) and joint National record holder Abdul Najeeb Qureshi (11.18s).
Shakeh Mortaja (47.71s) and Mandeep Kaur (55.97s) won the 400 metres in either section, the field bereft of calibre or standing.
The results: Men: 100m: Race ‘A': 1. Shameer Mon (Army) 10.87s, 2. Ashwani Sharma (Del) 11.05, 3. Abdul Najeeb Qureshi (AP) 11.18; 400m: Race ‘A': 1. S.K. Mortaja (Bengal) 47.71s, 2. Neeraj Panwar (UP) 47.89, 3. J. Premanand (TN) 48.37; 800m: Race ‘A': 1. Ghamanda Ram (ONGC) 1:48;87, 2. Ravinder Rautela (Uttarakhand) 1:51.15, 3. Gireesh Ramachander (CRPF) 1:51.47; High jump: 1. Jithin Thomas (Army) 2.10m, 2. Hari Sankar Roy (Bengal) 2.05, 3. Raminder Singh (CRPF) 1.95; Long jump: 1. Shamsher Pratap Singh (Pun) 7.77m, 2. Maha Singh (Pun) 7.46, 3. Bharat Inder Singh (Har) 7.30; Discus: 1. Vikas Poonia (Raj) 49.21m, 2. Sunil Kumar (Har) 48.95, 3. Bhalendar Singh (Har) 48.58.
Women: 100m: 1. Mounika Gaddam (AP) 12.12s, 2. Mandeep Kaur (Pun) 12.35, 3. Rebecca Jose (Kar) 12.43; 400m: Mandeep Kaur (Pun) 55.97s, 2. Debashree Majumdar (Bengal) 56.40, 3. Alka Rani (Del) 57.15; Triple jump: 1. Mayookha Johny (ONGC) 13.65m, 2. Shradha Ghule (Mah) 12.39, 3. Shalu Chaudhary (Del) 11.64; Discus: 1. Amanpreet Kaur (Pun) 45.79m, 2. Manisha (Har) 42.04, 3. Promila (Har) 42.02; Javelin: 1. Suman Devi (UP) 47.60m, 2. Megha Pardeshi (Mah) 46.30, 3. Gurpreet Kaur (Har) 45.85.
Non-GP event: Men: 20km walk: 1. Gurmeet Singh (Jharkhand) 1:20:35 (NR, old 1:23:06), 2. Babubhai Panucha (Guj) 1:24:38, 2. Basant Bahadur (Army) 1:24:47.
The walk was not part of the Grand Prix programme. It was in some doubt even days before the meet. Though Gurmeet clocked 1:20:35 for a mammoth improvement on Babubhai Panucha's National record of 1:23:06, achieved at the Berlin World championships in 2009, there was no certainty this afternoon that his record would be ratified.
Dope-testing, mandatory for approval of all National records, was not in place early Tuesday morning when the walkers finished the course at the NIS which comprised 20 rounds around a one-kilometre loop. It could not be ascertained if he was tested hours later.
Though the timing is within the qualification marks for World Championships and the London Olympic Games, there would be no luck for Gurmeet since results achieved at pre-designated meets approved by the international federation alone will count towards qualification.
Winner of the National Games title, in the 20,000m event, at Ranchi (1:23:26.0), Gurmeet had returned a time of 1:23:05.84 for a National record in the 20,000m walk at the Railway championships in Chennai earlier this year. He had come seventh (1:25:43) at the Asian championships in Nomi City in Japan last March.
Many of the top-ranked athletes stayed away from the season opener for some reason or the other, not altogether a rare phenomenon in Indian athletics.
Barring Mayookha Johny, who posted her second best career mark of 13.65m in a mediocre and thin field in women's triple jump, no other athlete came close to standards expected at this level. Mayookha (ONGC) was just three centimeters shy of her National record, registered at the same venue last year.
Shamsher Pratap Singh continued his good run from the Punjab Games by winning the men's long jump title with a 7.77m effort. Maha Singh (7.46m) was second.
Several events were conducted as time trials and an idea about the miserable performance levels could be gauged from the timings returned by top sprinters Shameer Mon (10.87s) and joint National record holder Abdul Najeeb Qureshi (11.18s).
Shakeh Mortaja (47.71s) and Mandeep Kaur (55.97s) won the 400 metres in either section, the field bereft of calibre or standing.
The results: Men: 100m: Race ‘A': 1. Shameer Mon (Army) 10.87s, 2. Ashwani Sharma (Del) 11.05, 3. Abdul Najeeb Qureshi (AP) 11.18; 400m: Race ‘A': 1. S.K. Mortaja (Bengal) 47.71s, 2. Neeraj Panwar (UP) 47.89, 3. J. Premanand (TN) 48.37; 800m: Race ‘A': 1. Ghamanda Ram (ONGC) 1:48;87, 2. Ravinder Rautela (Uttarakhand) 1:51.15, 3. Gireesh Ramachander (CRPF) 1:51.47; High jump: 1. Jithin Thomas (Army) 2.10m, 2. Hari Sankar Roy (Bengal) 2.05, 3. Raminder Singh (CRPF) 1.95; Long jump: 1. Shamsher Pratap Singh (Pun) 7.77m, 2. Maha Singh (Pun) 7.46, 3. Bharat Inder Singh (Har) 7.30; Discus: 1. Vikas Poonia (Raj) 49.21m, 2. Sunil Kumar (Har) 48.95, 3. Bhalendar Singh (Har) 48.58.
Women: 100m: 1. Mounika Gaddam (AP) 12.12s, 2. Mandeep Kaur (Pun) 12.35, 3. Rebecca Jose (Kar) 12.43; 400m: Mandeep Kaur (Pun) 55.97s, 2. Debashree Majumdar (Bengal) 56.40, 3. Alka Rani (Del) 57.15; Triple jump: 1. Mayookha Johny (ONGC) 13.65m, 2. Shradha Ghule (Mah) 12.39, 3. Shalu Chaudhary (Del) 11.64; Discus: 1. Amanpreet Kaur (Pun) 45.79m, 2. Manisha (Har) 42.04, 3. Promila (Har) 42.02; Javelin: 1. Suman Devi (UP) 47.60m, 2. Megha Pardeshi (Mah) 46.30, 3. Gurpreet Kaur (Har) 45.85.
Non-GP event: Men: 20km walk: 1. Gurmeet Singh (Jharkhand) 1:20:35 (NR, old 1:23:06), 2. Babubhai Panucha (Guj) 1:24:38, 2. Basant Bahadur (Army) 1:24:47.
